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May 17, 2008

Bodie State Historic Park is a ghost town located to the east of Yosemite National Park. When the Tioga Highway is open, you can drive there from Yosemite east across the Tioga Pass to Lee Vining and then by going north about 20 mintues on Highway 395.

Bodie was named after Waterman S. Bodey (the spelling of the town is a corrupted spelling of his name), who discovered gold there in 1859. The heyday of the town was in the 1880s when around 10,000 people lived there.

The ghost town was designated a California state historic park in 1962, and is maintained in a state of "arrested decay".

The day we visited was perfect for a photography shoot. The light was bright and the sky was mostly clear but with some interesting clouds that add some great interest to the photos. I have to say that I didn't expect to get quite as much out of my visit there as I did: it was a fascinating place and a photographer's dream location.